Painting

This complex interlocking design is on the reverse of an allegorical painting (IM.8-1925) depicting the Central Asian ancestor of the Mughal rulers, Timur, handing the imperial crown to Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in the presence of Babur's son, Humayun. The folio was formerly bound in an album compiled for the emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658). The design is extremely unusual but is similar to one on another folio from the same dispersed album, now in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. On the other side of the Dublin page, the illustration completes the V&A's composition by depicting Humayun's son Akbar at the centre, handing the crown to Shah Jahan, while Jahangir looks on.

The pages belong to a group commonly known as the "Minto Album", named after one of the Earls of Minto who formerly owned it.